NEW DELHI: It's game India for rice exports this year. The country toppled Thailand for the first time in three decades to emerge as the top rice exporter but the latter won the day in sugar exports.

According to the US Department of Agriculture's latest report, India exported 9.75 million tonne rice in 2012, beating Thailand, which could ship only 6.5 million tonne, slipping to the third slot after Vietnam.

In 2011, Thailand had exported 10.7 million tonne rice while India, which opened rice export only in September last year, managed to ship 4.8 million tonne.

However, in sugar exports, Thailand maintained its second spot with an expected shipment of 7.7 million tonne in 2012. On the other hand, India could ship only 3.67 million tonne after the export was freed up from quota restrictions in July this year.

India has always had a price advantage over Thailand, which sells at a premium in the world market. The international price of Thai rice ranges between $530 and $540 per tonne while the same Indian variety fetches anything between $375 and $385 in global markets.

"The steep variation in Thai and Indian rice varieties is mainly because of the Thai government's high support price to farmers. The government paid farmers 15,000 baht per tonne for 100% white paddy and 20,000 baht for fragrant paddy to fulfill its election promise.

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